A First for Hogwarts
by Meredith Sinclair
Summary: Headmistress McGonnagall has hired a Muggle to teach Muggle studies. What surprises are in store for the first Muggle behind the castle walls? Rated T because I never know what kind of potty mouth my characters may come up with.
1. Introduction

Introduction

Anna Jacobs sat in the cozy living room of her small apartment, sipping a cup of tea and reading a book. The pretty, young school teacher lived a quiet life, and she liked it that way. She relished being on her own, away from her family, truth be told. The Jacobs family tree had more than its fair share of strange branches, and she was happy finally living a normal life in London, teaching history at an exclusive private school. The weird "Crack" she heard outside her apartment was about to change all of that.

After the cracking noise, there was a knock at her door. She cautiously looked out the peephole and saw an older woman, dressed in a strange kind of flowing dress, standing in the hallway. When she recognized who it was, she sighed to herself. An odd leaf from one of those strange branches had landed in front of her door. She opened the door.

"Aunt Minerva, what a surprise," she said, as her aunt came into the apartment. This was her mother's aunt, on her grandmother's side. The visitor gave the young woman a kiss on the cheek as she passed her in the doorway. "Come in," Anna said, as her aunt had done just that.

"Good Evening, Anna dear," Minerva McGonagall said to her niece as she sat in an armchair.

"What brings you to London?" Anna asked her guest. "Would you like some tea?"

"This isn't a social call, dear," her aunt told her. "I don't know if your mother told you, but I have been the headmistress at my school for ten years now."

"Oh, congratulations," Anna offered halfheartedly. "What was it again? Hogblisters?"

"Hog_warts_" her aunt corrected.

"Hog_warts_, right," Anna said and sat on the couch.

"As I was saying, I have been headmistress for ten years now, and I have been given permission to try something new. We teach a class at Hogwarts called 'Muggle Studies'" Aunt Minerva continued.

"What is a Muggle?" Anna asked, hoping she wouldn't be sorry she did. She remembered some of Aunt Minerva's 'fairy tales' and most of the creatures she described were either terrifying or disgusting.

"Muggles are non-magic folk, like yourself" she explained.

"Ok," said Anna, "So I am a 'Muggle'?"

"Yes, Anna, you are. That is why I am here. I have been given permission to hire a Muggle to teach Muggle Studies at Hogwarts. I want you to be that teacher."

"What?" Anna asked, shocked. "I thought no one who wasn't, uh, _special_ could even see your school, let alone go inside?"

"That is why I told you I have been given special permission. If you accept this position, you will be trusted to act with the utmost discretion in regards to your new employment. Since you are family, I believe that you can be trusted with the secrets of Hogwarts."

"Aunt Minerva, this is too much! I can't just leave my job! School will be starting back in a month, they will need to hire a new teacher, get her up to speed, I don't think I can!" Anna protested.

"Anna, you will be the first Muggle to have access to Hogwarts School since it's founding over eleven _hundred _years ago. This is a great honor. Please reconsider!" Aunt Minerva perched on the edge of her chair, and gave Anna a look her students would be very familiar with. Minerva McGonagall wasn't asking her niece to take the job, she was telling her.

"Aunt Minerva, I don't even know how to teach your students, I have no curriculum for 'Muggle Studies', I…." she trailed off her hands waving in the air as if she could go on and on.

"Hogwarts students are no different than the students you currently teach. As for curriculum, we have a fully developed curriculum in place. All we need is a teacher."

Anna sighed and looked around her apartment. She had dealt with people like Aunt Minerva before and she knew taking NO for an answer just wasn't in their blood. What the hell, she thought. She was getting a little tired of the snotty little twerps at the private school where she was teaching. She had a vague idea where the castle was and country-side living sounded nice.

"Alright, I accept" she told her aunt.

"Splendid! I shall return in one week to take you to the school. Thank you dear, you will not regret this, not for one second!" Both women stood, and as Anna approached her aunt to see her to the door, the "Crack" sounded again, louder now that it was in her apartment, and Aunt Minerva disappeared before her eyes.

Anna spoke to her now empty apartment, "I hope not."


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N Thanks to the reviewer who pointed out an error - it has been fixed!**_

* * *

Later that week, a strange stack of books appeared in front of her apartment door. She had no idea how they got there, she hadn't heard a thing. When she picked up the leather-bound volumes, she realized why they had appeared so silently. Aunt Minerva, she thought, as she brought the books into her apartment and browsed through the titles.

"Muggle Studies for First Years" was the book on top. Must be the curriculum, she thought. I wonder how out of date this is, it looks a hundred years old. There were books for different student levels, and another stack of seven thicker books. She picked up the top book from the second stack. There was a note attached to it –

"Dear Anna,

If you have time, you may want to start reading these books. They will give you a very good idea of what you can expect at Hogwarts, as well as some lessons on recent wizarding history. They have not been released to the Muggle world, so please do not discuss them with anyone.

I will arrive at your apartment on Tuesday at 1 o'clock pm. You need only pack your clothes, everything else you need will be provided for you at the school.

Until then,

Minerva"

Anna placed the note on her coffee table and went to her sofa with the first book in hand. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" she read the title of the volume as she sat on her couch. "What is this all about?" she said to herself, as she opened the leather-bound book.

By the time her aunt arrived on Tuesday, between packing and reviewing her new curriculum, Anna had only managed to get through about half the "Philosopher's Stone" book, but she was intrigued. She was packed and ready for her aunt's arrival, eager to see the castle so brilliantly described in the book.

Aunt Minerva arrived at 1 pm sharp. Anna greeted her aunt and let her into the apartment. Anna's suitcases were sitting in the living room all packed and ready.

"Ready to go?" Aunt Minerva asked her, after she arrived in Anna's apartment.

"As I'll ever be" Anna said. "One question first, though. Are these books for real?" she asked waving her copy of the "Philosopher's Stone".

"Why of course they are!" Aunt Minerva sounded indignant. "The Ministry commissioned the finest writing witch in England to write them. She took years, tracking down people, researching every detail. These are very important works!"

"Sorry!" said Anna, "I didn't mean to offend anyone! It just seems, well, pretty fantastic is all."

"Yes, Anna, to a Muggle, it would seem that way, but I can assure you, Madame Rowling's historical accuracy has never been questioned. You can take those books as fact."

"Oh," said Anna, considering that if even the little bit that she had read so far was true; she was in for a wild ride.

"Let's go then" Aunt Minerva said. She waved her wand and muttered some words; Anna's suitcases disappeared.

"Whoa! Where did they go?" she exclaimed, like an amazed child at a magic show. Even though she knew Aunt Minerva was 'special', and she vaguely knew what that meant, it was still shocking to see her aunt performing magic.

"They are waiting for you in your chambers at Hogwarts" her aunt informed her. "Now we must be going, we need to stop at the Ministry before we go to the castle."

"The Ministry?" Anna asked, and then remembered the book, "The Ministry of MAGIC! It's a real place? We're actually going there?"

"Why, yes, my dear. You need to complete some forms before the Ministry will grant you access to the school. Here, put this on" she handed Anna a gold necklace with a small charm suspended from it. "This will allow you to have access to the magical places Muggles aren't allowed to see. Ready?" she asked as she extended her hand. "Hold tight to my hand and do not let go until I do. This is very important, do you understand?"

Anna had not yet read about Apperating, but Aunt Minerva sounded very serious, so she nodded her head and gripped her aunt's hand very tightly. Almost instantaneously, she felt a weird pulling sensation in her stomach, and her whole body felt squeezed, like she was in a giant's toothpaste tube. She couldn't breathe, and was just about to panic when her feet hit solid ground and she stumbled forward.

Her aunt steadied her on her feet and dropped her hand. They had appeared on a street in front of a telephone booth. Aunt Minerva opened the door to the booth and stepped in, telling Anna to follow. When they were both squished into the booth, and the door shut, Aunt Minerva picked up the phone, dialed some numbers and the floor dropped out from beneath them. Anna screamed.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic" Aunt Minerva said when their fall stopped.

Anna tried not to gawk at the room, but failed miserably. She had never seen anything like it in her lifetime. It was a long hall at least three football pitches in length, and four stories high. The floor was gleaming, polished wood.

The deep blue ceiling was filled with strange golden symbols in constant motion. There were ornate fireplaces lining each side of the lobby.

On one side, occasionally a green flame would appear in one of the grates and a human being would pop out from the flames.

On the other side, people were jumping into the green flames, like it was completely normal to jump into a fire.

In the middle of this hall, was the largest fountain Anna had ever seen. It appeared to be made of gold and there were large figures towering from the center of the fountain. Two of them looked human to Anna, one male and one female, the others she didn't recognize.

Her aunt led her back to the security desk where she was checked in. Aunt Minerva then took her into an elevator. "Hold on" she said and pointed at the straps hanging from the ceiling. Anna did, just as the elevator took off.

It was no normal elevator. It seemed to be speeding along, first up, then it abruptly changed directions and they moved sideways, then back up again. Anna was glad she had been hanging on. The elevator switched directions so quickly she surely would have been thrown to the floor.

The contraption finally stopped and Aunt Minerva and a very green looking Anna emerged in to an office almost rivaling the lobby. The polished marble floor was shining, and the ceiling had the same blue hue. There was a large, ornate desk sitting opposite the elevator doors, where an important looking wizard sat, piles of files and papers surrounding him.

"Minister Shacklebolt!" Aunt Minerva said as she moved forward toward the desk. He rose from his desk, walked around it and greeted her, taking her hands and kissing both her cheeks.

"Headmistress McGonagall, how wonderful to see you again!" he said in a deep, sonorous voice.

"This is my niece, Anna Jacobs. Anna, this is Kingsely Shacklebolt, the Minister for Magic" Aunt Minerva introduced her to the minister.

"Professor Jacobs," he said, shaking her hand. Anna felt a surge of pride being addressed as 'Professor' for the first time. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic! How are you today?"

"Confused, confounded, and a little motion sick" she said and the Minister laughed.

"I imagine it is a lot for anyone to take in all at once, but you have just begun!" he told her. "It's going to be a great journey for our first Muggle Professor!"

"Thank you minister," Anna said, blushing with pride.

"For now, there is the paperwork, right? Always the paperwork! Please, have a seat." and he led her to his desk. He waved his wand and a smaller, but just as ornate, desk appeared accompanied by a leather office chair.

She sat in the chair as form after form passed before her eyes. Forms for non-disclosure, threatening some very nasty sounding punishments should she ever reveal where she worked or what she saw from this day forward. Forms releasing the Ministry from any liability should she be hurt or killed on the job, either by a student, teacher, magical creature or just plain accident, forms regarding her pay and contract at Hogwarts. It seemed to go on and on, and her hand was cramping from signing them all. Finally Minister Shacklebolt said, "I believe that's it!" He rose and extended his hand to Anna, and she shook it. "Good luck to you Professor Jacobs!"

"Thank you Minister!" she returned.

"Ready to go?" asked Aunt Minerva.

"Ready as I'll ever be" she said, turning green again at the thought of the elevator ride and whatever that was Aunt Minerva had done in her apartment. They went back the way they had come and once they were back outside, Aunt Minerva offered her hand again, repeating the warning about holding tight, and they Apperated to Hogwarts.


	3. Chapter 2

The castle was even more impressive than had been described in the books. For the second time today, Anna was dumbstruck, mouth open, gaping at the school. She could hardly believe that she would be living here. To the left she saw the lake and to the right, she could see pennants waving over some type of large sports field.

"Come along, dear" Minerva urged her. She led the new professor into the courtyard and up the stairs into the castle. Anna's head swiveled from side to side, trying to take it all in as she followed her aunt up a set of stairs and down a corridor. She stopped in front of a portrait of a beautiful blonde woman wearing some kind of toga grooming a pure white unicorn. "Snoggle Blossoms" Minerva said.

"Welcome Professor McGonagall, Professor Jacobs" the woman said and the portrait swung away from the wall.

"The paintings really do move and talk!" Anna exclaimed.

"Of course they do" said Aunt Minerva as they entered Anna's chambers. They entered a large living area. There were bookshelves along the walls, two floral patterned couches and two overstuffed rose colored arm chairs arranged in front of a fireplace to the right. To the left was a large desk with a leather office chair behind it.

"Through that door," Aunt Minerva pointed to a door past the fireplace area "is your bedroom and bathroom. These chambers have had magical wards placed around them. Since you are defenseless against any spells, no magic can be performed in here. The same protection has been given to your classroom. There are some robes in your closet. You should wear them to formal school functions, but since you are a Muggle, they are not required for day to day attire."

"Ok, thank you" Anna said.

"Now, dear, I will leave you to get settled in. If you need anything, pull this cord" she indicated a thick silken braid hanging from the ceiling, "and a house elf will assist you."

"What is a house elf?" Anna asked

"Finish _Philosophers' Stone _and start _Chamber of Secrets_" Aunt Minerva told her, with a slight twinkle in her eye, "you'll learn all about them! I'll come back in a few hours and take you to supper and you can meet some of the staff. The others will be arriving later."

Aunt Minerva left and Anna looked around her chambers and went into her bedroom. There were a variety of robes already hanging in the closet, just as Aunt Minerva had said. Anna busied herself hanging the rest of her clothes and arranging her belongings in her rooms. When she had finished, Aunt Minerva still hadn't come to take her to dinner, so she sat and continued reading the _Philosophers Stone._

After a time, there was a knock at her portrait and she said, "Come in!" Aunt Minerva had arrived to take her to dinner. They walked to the Great Hall, where a single table was set in the center of the room. There were ten places set, and the professors were all taking their seats. Minerva introduced Anna to the other professors.

"Anna Jacobs everyone, this is Annalise Erickson, Defense Against the Dark Arts; Elias Hograth, Transfiguration; Filius Flitwick, Charms; Neville Longbottom, Herbology; Luna Lovegood, Care of Magical Creatures; Bathsheda Babbling; Runes; and Septima Vector, Arithmancy."

Anna recognized Flitwick and Vector as professors. The others were wither new or introduces in books she hadn't read yet. She was relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with Snape, but maybe ne was no longer the Potions professor. Professor Lovegood looked very young, and she was surprised to see Neville Longbottom teaching. What she had read about him so far made him seem hopeless at magic. It must have shown on her face, because as she sat, Neville spoke to her, "Thought you'd never see me as a professor?"

"Well, actually," she hesitated, not wanting to offend her new colleague.

" 'S Alright!" Neville said jovially, "I was a bit of a tosser for a while. How far did you get in the books?"

"I am just past half way in _Philosophers Stone_" she told him.

"That explains it!" he said with a grin. Then he leaned over and whispered to her, "Don't worry, I turn out to be the hero in the end."

Professor Lovegood gently scolded him, "Neville, don't spoil the end for her. That's rude. And you are bragging again." Neville looked at Luna and a smile lit up his face. So, they are in love, Anna thought. She enjoyed the rest of dinner with her new colleagues.

The next day, Minerva showed Anna her classroom. She now had two weeks to prepare before the students arrived. She was busy, but still made time to read the Harry Potter books. By the day the students arrived, she had managed to get almost through _The Goblet of Fire_. At breakfast the morning of 1 September, Minerva told her, "I have much to do today to prepare for the arrival of the students. I am going to send someone to escort you to the Great Hall this evening for the start of term feast."

"Anything I can help with?" Anna asked.

"I'm sorry, Anna, its all magical tasks" Minerva said.

"Oh, ok" Anna said. So she spent the day in her chambers finishing her book. In the early evening there was a knock on her portrait door. She closed her book and said, "Come in!"

The portrait swung open and a very handsome man came into her chamber. He was tall and broad shouldered, with white blonde hair. He was wearing a black suit with a black collared shirt under his robes. His silk tie was also black with a poison green pattern. Having taught at an exclusive private school for 6 years, she could identify the look of money on people, and this man had the aristocratic look of someone that had loads of it. He introduced himself and his voice was deep and confident.

"Draco Malfoy, Potions professor" he said. "Professor McGonagall asked me to escort you to the feast."

"Oh! Malfoy" she said, her eyes narrowing slightly. Malfoy read the look in an instant. He surveyed the room and found what he was looking for.

"So, you're reading that tripe?" he asked, indicating the book on the table beside the armchair.

"Professor McGonagall recommended them" she shot back defensively. She was finding the books very good, not a bit of tripe in sight.

"You taught history to the Muggles, yes?" he inquired. She nodded her head.

"Then you should know not to believe everything you read. Remember, history is written by the victors" he said. "We need to go."

She pulled on the robe she had chosen over her clothes and followed him out into the hallway. He grasped her elbow and moved her in front of him. "Professor McGonagall wants me to place protective charms on you to prevent any magic from affecting you. Stand still."

She did as he said and he pulled his wand from inside his robes. He waved it over her in different patterns, mumbling words Anna didn't understand under his breath. Finally he said "Done. Let's go" and strode off towards the Great Hall, leaving her jogging to catch up.

When they entered the Great Hall, Anna was stunned again. All the large house tables were in place and the house banners seemed to be suspended in mid air over the tables. There were thousands of candles floating in the air and the ceiling of the hall appeared to be transparent and she saw the full moon shining down on them.

"It's beautiful!" she breathed.

"Yes, of course" Malfoy said brusquely. "Now we need to take our seats, the students are arriving." She and Malfoy proceeded to the head table. He pointed at a chair for her to sit in and stalked off to the opposite end of the table.

"Nice guy" she muttered under her breath as she sat down.


	4. Chapter 3

_**Authors Note** _- It's been a long time since I added anything to this, crazy busy summer. But the story has still been stewing in my brain and there may be another chapter by the end of this week! I hope you enjoy, please leave a review!

* * *

Anna woke early the next day, excited and nervous about her first day teaching the young witches and wizards. She chose a teacher-appropriate Muggle suit to wear, a charcoal grey skirt and matching jacket over a white button down blouse with low heels. She had just stepped out of the portrait when she was greeted by Neville Longbottom.

"Good Morning Professor Jacobs" he smiled at her. "The other professors will be taking turns renewing your protective charms each morning. Someone will meet you here before breakfast every day."

Anna smiled and returned his greeting. She stood still in front of him as she had been instructed by Professor Malfoy (she still couldn't think of that cold, imposing person as Draco) last night and Neville waved his wand and said some words she didn't understand.

"All done" Neville told her, "Ready for breakfast?"

After breakfast, Anna went to her classroom, her hands shaking slightly in anticipation of her first class, a group of fourth year students. She stood at her classroom lectern as the students filed in and took their seats. She had prepared each desk with a pen, pencil, and notebook for the student. She instantly could tell the Muggle born students from the Wizarding family students by their reactions to the supplies she had provided. The Wizarding students seemed confused by these items, turning them this way and that and asking their classmates what they were.

Anna spoke up. "Good morning class. My name is Professor Jacobs and I will be your Muggle Studies teacher. Please get out your Muggle Studies books and turn to page 5."

A black-haired wizard in the front row pointed his wand at his bag and said something that sounded to Anna like "Akio Book". He looked very confused when nothing happened, and he tried again. Anna realized he was trying to use a spell.

"And, class, you should know that no magic can be performed in this classroom. Everything we do in here, we will do the way Muggles do." There were more than a few groans at this announcement. "These items," she held up a pen, a pencil, and notebook, "are what Muggle schoolchildren use to study and do their school work. This is a pen and this is a notebook. You write down your notes in the notebook with the pen or the pencil. I have provided you with both." Anna gave a quick demonstration of how the Muggle school supplies worked then moved into her first lesson.

"Now, how many of you have heard of an airplane?"

* * *

Anna soon settled into her routine at Hogwarts. Her aunt had been right; these students were no different than her usual pupils. She had the same challenges; the inattentive ones, the know-it-alls, the ones who genuinely struggled with the material and needed extra help, and the same rewards; that feeling when one who was struggling finally had a breakthrough, when a know-it-all lost their attitude and was happy to help a fellow student, when a student who was trying to sort out a personal issue came to her for advice. Her work kept her busy enough, but by the end of October, she had also managed to finish the Harry Potter books and she was bursting with questions. She wondered if she would ever get to meet Harry, Ron or Hermione. She had gained enormous respect for Neville and Luna after finding out all they had been through at such a young age. She found a new sense of pride in being Minerva McGonagall's niece. She even was beginning to understand Professor Malfoy a little more, although the circumstances that brought him to a teaching position at Hogwarts were still mysterious to her. She tried not to gush like a star struck teenager when she was around the other professors.

She was returning to her chamber one evening, preoccupied with her lesson planning for the next day; trying to decide the best way to explain a computer to her second year students. She gave the toga lady her password and entered her chamber to a horrible smell and something slimy on the floor. She yelled and jumped back out of the portrait. She looked in to her room and saw that the floor was covered in some foul smelling green slime, about two feet deep! She slammed the portrait closed (much to the shock of the toga lady) and grabbed a passing fifth year student named Amelia Winston.

"Miss Winston, would you please fetch Professor Longbottom for me?"

"Sure Professor Jacobs" the girl replied and went to find Neville.

Who could have done this? she wondered. No magic could be performed in her chambers, so whoever did it had to have put all that gross slime in there by hand. She had no idea what the slime might even be. She paced back and forth in front of her room while the toga lady glared at her for her rudeness in slamming her portrait.

"Hey, Anna – what's wrong?" Neville asked as he approached her.

"There is green slime in my chambers. Foul smelling, green slime!" she told him as she turned and gave the toga lady her password. But the portrait didn't open. Anna repeated her password, but still no luck.

"What is going on!?" she said between gritted teeth. She could see the toga lady on the far side of the unicorn, petting the animal and studiously avoiding Anna's look.

"Did you make her mad?" Neville asked. "The Gryffindor portrait lady used to get upset at the students from time to time and refuse to let anyone in."

"I slammed the portrait when I saw and smelled the slime" Anna admitted. "But she can do that? Just refuse to let me in?"

"Oh sure!" Neville told her. "They have feelings and get in moods just like anyone. More so if that was their personality when they were alive. You should apologize."

"Really? Apologize to a painting?"

Neville nodded, "Yes if you want to get back into your room."

Anna took a deep breath and turned to the portrait. "I am very sorry I slammed you shut. I was shocked by what I had found in my room and I didn't mean anything against you…toga lady."

The toga lady looked up from petting the unicorn. "My name is Athanasia, not that you ever bothered to ask," she said petulantly.

Anna was becoming more frustrated by the toga lady and felt ridiculous kow towing to a dead Greek woman in a painting, but she grit her teeth and tried to sound pleasant.

"I do apologize Athanasia, I should have asked your name earlier and I really sould take more care with your portrait. Can you please forgive me and let me in to my room?"

"Of course I will Anna" Athanasia replied lovingly and the portrait swung open. The smell hit Anna and Neville immediately. Neville covered his nose with his sleeve and moved forward to investigate.

"Yep, you've got green slime alright. Don't know exactly what it is though" he said as he gently closed the portrait again. "Better get Draco down here to check it out. Be right back!"

Neville returned a few minutes later with Professors Malfoy and McGonagall. They opened the portrait and examined the slime again.

"Looks like you have encountered the curse of the first year teacher" Malfoy laughed slightly.

"The what?" asked Anna. She was getting angry about the whole evening and just wanted to get into her room.

"You have been pranked. Obviously harmless, but annoying. Don't let the students know that they got to you" Malfoy advised. He turned to the headmistress. "Minerva, can you please remove your protective wards so Neville and I can clean this up for Professor Jacobs?"

"Of course" Minerva replied. She pointed her wand at Anna's room and removed the wards.

Neville and Draco stood side by side in front of the door and looked at each other. "Scourgify?" Neville asked.

"Might as well try that first" Draco replied. The two wizards pointed their wands at the slime and said "Scourgify!" in unison. Anna watched in disgust at the wands seemed to suck the green slime into them. The sucking sound that accompanied the clean up made her turn away, feeling slightly sick.

"Oh gross!" she exclaimed. That made Neville and Draco laugh hysterically.

Once the mess had been cleaned, Minerva recast the wards and made them a bit stronger. "I think it would be wise if you changeed your password" she suggested.

"I'll take a look at what this slime actually was, but like Draco said, it's probably not more than a harmless prank on a new teacher" Neville told them.

"Thank you professors" Minerva said. "Anna will you be alright?" she asked her niece.

"Yeah, great" Anna mumbled as she went into her room closing the portrait door very gently.


	5. Chapter 4

"I heard you had some trouble last night" Luna said to Anna as she took her seat at breakfast the next morning.

"Ugh" replied Anna, "I don't even want to think about it. It was pretty gross."

"Neville told me, it sounds awful. I'd be happy to check your chambers for any clues that a magical creature was involved" Luna offered.

"Minerva has protected my chambers against spells, but I don't know about protection from magical creatures. Can we meet in my chambers after classes today?" Anna said. They agreed on a time and set off for their classrooms.

Anna's day was rather usual, with the exception of the occasional snicker and whispers behind hands. Apparently news of the green slime incident last night had spread. Anna decided that the best way to deal with it was to follow Malfoy's advice and ignore it. If the students realized that the prank bothered her, it would never end. After she dismissed her last class, she hurried to her chambers to prepare for Luna's visit. She summoned a house elf and asked her to bring some tea and snacks for the afternoon. Luna arrived soon after.

"Please sit over there and be as quiet as possible" Luna instructed. Anna sat on her couch and watched Luna begin her search. From her bag she pulled a pair of heavy looking glasses with large rhinestones glued to the frames. She moved slowly through the room, tapping tables and gently rocking chairs and couches. Anna saw nothing happening as Luna searched. Finally Luna sighed, removed her glasses and sat next to Anna on the sofa.

"Well, apart from a few Nargles, I can't find any traces of magical creatures. Maybe you should get a cat." Luna told Anna

"Will a cat keep these, um, Nargles, away?" Anna asked.

"Not really, but they are good company" Luna replied.

The two sat companionably and had their tea and snacks. They talked about their students; Luna told Anna some of the stories about the Wizarding War that weren't in the books Anna had read; mostly about the happenings at Hogwarts while Harry, Hermione and Ron were hunting the Horcruxes.

"It must have been an awful time" Anna said.

"I wouldn't know too much about it. I was being held at Malfoy Manor for most of the time." Luna reminded Anna.

"That's right," Anna said. "How can you stand to look at Malfoy now, let alone work with him after everything he did?"

"Oh, it wasn't Draco's fault." Luna explained.

"Not his fault!" Anna was incredulous. "He was there for everything that happened! He could have done something, but he just stood by and let people be tortured, he tried to kill Dumbledore!"

Luna smiled at Anna and tried to explain. "Oh Anna, there is so much more to the history of the war than what you read in those books. Yes, they are well written, but Madame Rowling was only following Harry's story. If she had tried to tell everyone's story, the books would have been too long, and would probably still be being written! The Ministry insisted that she focus on that one aspect in order to get the story out quickly.

Let me tell you about the Draco I know.

You have to remember, Voldemort was living in his home. He was constantly terrified of seeing his parents killed or being killed himself if they displeased Voldemort in any way, real or imagined.

While I was being held in Malfoy Manor, he used to visit me when he could. I saw how the war was affecting him. His soul was being tortured every day. But yet he still tried his best to be my friend during that time. He would sneak me extra food as often as possible. One night, while the rest of the Death Eaters were gone, he sat outside the bars of the door and held my hand while he cried for hours over the things he had done and the things he knew were going to happen.

Can you imagine trying to choose between right and wrong when everything you love hangs in the balance and one small wrong move could destroy all of it? Draco stood trial after the war, he was judged and found not guilty because of the circumstances, but every time he meets someone new, someone who only knows the Draco Malfoy in those books, he is being judged, and found to be a terrible person all over again.

He has worked very hard to rebuild his life, to help those hurt in the war. That's why he's teaching here. He wants to help guide all the young witches and wizards now to not follow his path, to renounce the ideas of blood supremacy, to understand that we must all live together or another Voldemort will rise from the ashes of the last war."

Anna listened to all of this, fascinated. She had never thought of it in this way. She always imagined that she would stand up, fight as hard as she could against someone like Voldemort. But the way Luna painted the picture forced her to reconsider. What if everyone she loved stood in the balance? It was easy enough to be willing to give your life for the cause you believe in, but would she be willing to sacrifice those she loved? To watch them be tortured and die?

"Oh, Luna," Anna said with tears in her eyes. "I never thought about it that way. _Everyone_ must have suffered so much."

Luna took Anna's hand."Anna, don't be sad. We have survived and moved on. We have built new lives. Yes, it was terrible, but it would be even worse to dwell on the past and not move on.

Now, I have been wondering something. I keep hearing in the Muggle press about this thing called a 'smartphone'. What is a phone, and how does it get smart?"

Anna laughed and tried to explain the concept to her new friend.

* * *

The Quidditch final was that weekend and the school was empty as everyone was at the match, cheering for their favorite team. This year's final was Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff. Anna sat with Luna, who was now head of Ravenclaw house, and Neville. Anna had attended a few matches and read about the game, but it was still fun to have someone that could explain some of the nuances of the game, so she was pleased when Draco joined them. Although he was closely watching the match, he didn't seem to mind her questions. Ravenclaw won and everyone cheered the victors and congratulated the Hufflepuff team for an excellent season and a hard fought final match. Luna and Neville headed off to Ravenclaw tower to oversee the inevitable huge party that would be happening and Anna found herself walking back to her rooms with Draco. Now that the match was over, she was finding it difficult to make small talk with the still-imposing Potions professor.

"So, did you ever find anything out about the slime in my room?" she asked him.

"It was just a harmless compound, not too difficult to make. It had Blast Ended Skrewt urine mixed in. That's what gave it the smell." Draco told her.

"Urine?" Anna asked and shuddered. "Really gross!"

"Yes, 'gross' but harmless," smiled Draco as they reached her chambers.

"Thanks for explaining Quidditch to me," Anna said. "I hope I didn't distract you too much from the match."

"Not at all," Draco answered. "I'm just an old man trying to relive some of my glory days on the pitch."

"Not so old!" Anna smiled and turned to give the portrait her password. "Britney Spears" she said, but the portrait didn't open.

"What did you just say?" Draco asked.

"It's my password. Minerva advised me to change it after the slime incident so I did. She's a Muggle pop star," Anna explained and repeated the password. The portrait still didn't open. "Athanasia, what's going on?" Anna asked.

"Anna, the password has been changed," the toga lady replied. "Didn't you ask to change it?"

"No, I didn't," said Anna. "Who did?"

"I don't know," the portrait replied. "I stepped out to visit Gryllus in his portrait. Lelia here told me about the new password." She patted the unicorn.

"Can you ask Lelia who changed the password?" Draco asked.

"Lelia's eyesight isn't what it used to be. She tells me that the person that changed the password knew the old one and was a man. That's all she knows," Athanasia said as she continued to lovingly pet the unicorn.

"So can I change the password?" Anna asked.

"I'm sorry Anna; I cannot change the password unless you know the current password."

"I'll go get Minerva," Draco said. "As headmistress, she can reset your password." He set off to find the headmistress and Anna waited outside her rooms. Who could have done this? she wondered to herself. No one (as far as she knew) knew her password. More annoyance for the first year teacher, she guessed. As she waited, a tall man with black hair approached her in the corridor.

"Are you the new Muggle Studies teacher I have heard about?" he asked.

"Yes, I am," she said, thinking he was probably a parent, come to watch his child play in the Quidditch final. She extended her hand, "Anna Jacobs."

The man grasped her hand and introduced himself. "Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Jacobs."


End file.
